Housing

Tennessee Property Tax Relief While Relocated for Health Care

A disabled veteran who moves in with a relative or into a hospital or nursing facility keeps the property tax relief, so long as there is an intent to return. The 2018 act that fixed this paid people back to October 3, 2017.

Also called: nursing home, skilled nursing, intermediate care, intent to return, temporarily relocated, 67-5-704, Public Chapter 710.

For: Veteran or service member, survivor.

Where it applies

Written for the jurisdictions listed here.

TennesseeState

Property tax relief in Tennessee runs to the property the veteran owned and used as a residence, and for years that phrasing cost relief to people who stopped physically living there for medical reasons. Public Chapter 710 of 2018 fixed it for all three tax relief programs at once. Subsection (j) of 67-5-704 now says a disabled veteran shall continue to qualify for property tax relief while the disabled veteran is temporarily relocated for health care to the home of a friend or relative, or to a hospital or skilled or intermediate care facility, if the disabled veteran indicates an intent to return to the residence when recovered sufficiently. Identical subsections went into 67-5-702 for elderly low-income homeowners and 67-5-703 for disabled homeowners. The test is intent to return, not a prognosis. The statute does not ask whether recovery is likely, and it does not put an outer limit on how long the relocation may last. It asks what the taxpayer indicates. Subsection (k) settles which house counts by pointing at 2-2-122, the voter registration residence provision. That section is about where a person's residence is for election purposes, and it carries with it a body of rules about intent, temporary absence and the presumption that a residence is not lost by leaving it for a temporary purpose. Borrowing it here means a stay in a facility does not by itself relocate the veteran's residence. The act was made retroactive to a specific day. Subsection (l) provides that disabled veterans who were temporarily relocated for health care during the period beginning on or after October 3, 2017 and before April 12, 2018, and whose reimbursement ceased during that period as a result, shall receive reimbursement retroactively for the period and continue to receive it afterward. April 12, 2018 is the day the act took effect; October 3, 2017 reaches back roughly six months before it. Public Chapter 710 also added subsection (m), which is the sentence that quietly does the most work in the whole section: as used in this section, "disabled veteran" includes the veteran's otherwise qualified surviving spouse. Every protection in 67-5-704 that is written for a disabled veteran, including this one, therefore reaches the surviving spouse who qualifies under subsections (e), (f) or (g).

Thresholds

Thresholds for Tennessee Property Tax Relief While Relocated for Health Care
Gate	Rule
Temporarily relocated for health care	To the home of a friend or relative, or to a hospital or skilled or intermediate care facility. Section 67-5-704(j).
Indicates an intent to return	The statutory test is what the veteran indicates, not whether recovery is medically likely. No outer time limit appears in the section.
Residence is decided the way voter residence is	Subsection (k) determines the veteran’s residence in accordance with the principles set forth by 2-2-122, the election-law residence provision, which treats a temporary absence as not changing residence.
Retroactive to October 3, 2017	Subsection (l) restores reimbursement that ceased because of such a relocation during the period from October 3, 2017 to April 12, 2018, the effective date of Public Chapter 710.
Reaches the surviving spouse too	Subsection (m), added by the same act, defines disabled veteran throughout the section to include the veteran’s otherwise qualified surviving spouse.

Sources

Legislation

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Public Chapter 710 of 2018 (Senate Bill 1675) Kept property tax relief alive during a health care relocation, retroactively

Catalog reconciledEnactedScope changed

110th General AssemblyTakes effect 2018-04-12

Introduced Done, 2018-01-18, step 1 of 6
In committee Done, 2018-01-24, step 2 of 6
Passed one chamber Done, 2018-02-15, step 3 of 6
Passed both chambers Done, 2018-03-12, step 4 of 6
Signed by the governor Done, 2018-04-12, step 5 of 6
In effect Done, 2018-04-12, step 6 of 6

Expands benefits Keeps a disabled veteran's property tax relief while the veteran is temporarily relocated for health care.

Section 3 added subsections to 67-5-704 providing that a disabled veteran continues to qualify for property tax relief while temporarily relocated for health care to the home of a friend or relative, or to a hospital or skilled or intermediate care facility, if the veteran indicates an intent to return when recovered sufficiently; that the residence is determined by the principles of 2-2-122, the election-law residence provision; and that veterans whose reimbursement ceased for that reason between October 3, 2017 and the effective date are paid retroactively. Sections 1 and 2 did the same for the elderly and disabled homeowner programs. The same section added the definition that does the most work in the chapter: as used in 67-5-704, "disabled veteran" includes the veteran’s otherwise qualified surviving spouse, which carries every protection in the section across to the spouse. Tracked because guidance written before April 2018 describes a veteran who enters a nursing facility as losing the relief.

Updated

Last updated 2026-09-29.

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Disclaimer

VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.